With over 1,900 vehicles deployed globally, the UPS alternative-fuel fleet is among the industry's largest
and most diverse.

Once limited to a feel-good PR initiative slotted into the corporate portfolio, sustainability increasingly is seen by the world’s leading companies as an imperative—not only good for the planet, but directly equated with business value. That’s because a reduced carbon footprint can be derived from essential business processes like supply chain and transportation efficiencies—a key focus for global shipping giant UPS and its customers.

It’s a shared strategic perspective. “As companies strive to become more sustainable, they look progressively deeper into everything they do,” says Scott Wicker, UPS’s chief sustainability officer, “and they need their partners to think the exact same way.”

Logistics = Sustainability
The very logistics that create money-saving efficiencies internally—something UPS has been perfecting for the past 100 years— also green the supply chain. This in turn addresses the Scope 3 protocols the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council on Sustainable Development are developing. Under Scope 3, companies will ultimately account for carbon generated by the entire life cycle of products, from the manufacture and transport of their raw materials to disposal.

With this in mind, UPS routinely helps customers evaluate and mitigate the impact of their transportation and supply chain options, focusing strategically on four key areas where they can both improve operations and reduce emissions:

Greener transportation: UPS customers benefit from one of the largest private alternative-fuel fleets in the transportation industry; technology that improves truck routes to reduce carbon usage; super-efficient shipping bins; and paperless invoices that reduce waste while accelerating customs clearance.

Greener packaging: UPS’s reusable express envelope, made from 100% recycled fiber, can be shipped twice and then recycled, while its Eco Responsible Packaging Program helps reduce wasteful shipping material, uses more green materials and minimizes damage.

Greener supply chain networks: More than 80,000 customers are already benefiting from UPS’s flat-rate carbon offset program, based on a proprietary calculator that for as little as five cents per package determines carbon costs for any shipment and reports verified emissions while matching offsets purchased. Customers can then use the data for their own sustainability reports and future carbon reduction strategies.

Greener distribution and warehouse strategies: UPS’s fully integrated ground-air network is efficient and flexible no matter what the weather, while its ultra-sophisticated Worldport hub in Louisville, KY, gets most packages in and out in under 15 minutes—all of which reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

“We’re the supply chain for millions of customers every day, so by offering them services that improve the way they do these things, we lessen their impact on the planet,” says Wicker.

Sustainability = Good Business Ultimately, sustainability simply comes down to good business. “You’ve got to measure your impact, manage it, and then you can mitigate it,” Wicker states. “We’ve always understood that being more efficient in everything we do equates to less cost in energy and quicker time in delivery. So, while we’re working to mitigate our own impact, we’re helping customers to mitigate theirs. It improves our own business model, and theirs.”

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